No Hot Air and Temp Guage Problem - Volvo 850T

[putmeincoach]

Hi,

I have a 1995 Volvo 850 Turbo, 111000 miles.

I have a couple of problems that could relate to each other. The first being the temperature guage. When warming up the car on a cold day, it seems that the temp guage increases very slowly (takes almost 30min to warm up - the climate control switch is set to recycle).

When I'm driving at higher speeds, 50 mph+, the temp guage doesn't seem to be increasing. It sits near the bottom or slightly increases. I only notice the temp guage increasing when I've slowed down or driving less than 50mph. Note, I've tried this with both the switch with recycle air on and off.

Secondly, I only get hot air if the climate control is set to 84 degrees (max). As soon as I turn the dial/decrease the temperature, all I get is cold air. The air mix is set to 0 and this happens when both the recycle air switch is off and on, AC switch is off. No matter what setting I have it on, AUTO etc, this problem occurs.

I'm hoping this problem is only related to the thermostat. But could someone please verify this for me. It could be both the thermostat and the heater fan, but I'd like to get some more feedback.

Thanks.

[White850Turbo]

It sounds like the problems may be related to each other. First and foremost, you should replace your thermostat using this handy guide. If that doesn't fix the climate control thing, I'd suggest checking your fault codes for the climate control system and go from there.

[MadeInJapan]

If the thermostat replacement doesn't do it, I would consider the temp. sensor which is also in the thermostat housing. Not common, but it can go bad too.